Courtesy of MAC Sport Information Departments
Ball State 0, No. 18 Purdue 3
Box Score
While the Ball State women's volleyball team fought until the end, it could not keep pace with one of the nation's top programs, suffering a 3-0 (25-12, 25-21. 25-19) setback to 18th-ranked Purdue Tuesday evening at Holloway Gymnasium.
"Tonight, was definitely a learning experience for us," head coach Kelli Miller Phillips said. "We played a ton of freshmen and I thought in the first set we were kind of back on our heels. We didn't compete as well as I would have liked. But in sets two and three, I thought we started to relax a little bit and come into our own. Most of the time, we had at least four freshmen on the court. As they got more and more comfortable, we started making more and more plays and handling the ball better off the serve which allowed us to do more things offensively."
After a rough opening set, the Cardinals (1-2) used an ace from senior setter Amber Seaman to take its first lead of the night to begin the second. Ball State continued to put pressure on the Boilermakers (2-0), including a pair of late kills from freshman outside attacker Natalie Mitchem which pulled the guest within three at 24-21. Unfortunately, Purdue was able to get the next point and win the frame.
"Natalie Mitchem really stood out," Phillips said. "She was very consistent tonight and was able to score at a pretty high percentage on the left side. Really, I thought as the match went on, everyone just got better and better."
Ball State continued to pressure nationally-ranked Purdue in the third set, holding within two at 14-12. Then, after a 3-0 run by the host Boilermakers, freshman opposite Allison Hamaker came through with back-to-back kills in her collegiate debut to answer the charge. Unfortunately, the Cardinals could get no closer, dropping the set 25-19.
Overall, the Cardinals rebounded from the rough start to hit .173 (25-12-75) over the final two sets, including a .216 (11-3-37) rate of success in the third.
Mitchem led the Ball State attack with eight kills and hit a career-best .316 (8-2-19) for the match. Hamaker was Ball State's second-best attacker with five kills.
Defensively, freshman Natalie Risi led the backcourt for a second consecutive match with seven digs. In addition to her ace, Seaman dished out 21 assists and scored three kills. RIsi and freshman defensive specialist Maggie Huber were also credited with aces for the Cardinals.
Miami 0, Dayton 3
Box Score
The Miami University volleyball team could not overcome a strong Dayton block and hitting attack as it dropped a 0-3 (14-25, 21-25, 21-25) decision Tuesday evening. The RedHawks fall to 2-2 on the season, while the Flyers improve to 1-3.
Senior middle hitter Margaret Payne led Miami with nine kills and a .462 attack percentage. However, Dayton had a .333 attack percentage as a team and recorded 10 blocks to help lead it to the victory.
Junior setter Morgan Seaman led off the match with a service ace, but the Flyers were able to build a 6-3 lead to begin set one. Freshman outside hitter Lindsay Taylor put down a kill to halt the rally, but Dayton with a 10-5 run to take control at 16-9. Payne put down a pair of kills but the deficit was too much to overcome as the Flyers took a 25-14 win.
The RedHawks came out with a lot more fight to begin set two. Kills from freshman outside hitter Allyson Severance, junior right side hitter Sarah Wojick and sophomore right side hitter Sophie Riemersma helped Miami jump to a 7-4 lead. Junior middle hitter Avarie Powell had a block, while sophomore outside hitter Gaby Harper recorded a kill off an assist from sophomore setter Louise Comerford to increase the advantage to 11-7. Dayton closed to within two points, but back-to-back kills from Wojick and Payne put Miami on top, 16-12. The Flyers answered with a 6-0 run to go in front, 18-16. Payne and Riemersma recorded kills, while a block from Powell and Riemersma retied the score at 19. Dayton scored the next two points and closed on a 6-2 run to earn a 25-21 victory.
Severance had a kill and a service ace as set three started off as a back and forth battle. Two straight kills from Powell tied the score at eight. Dayton went on a 9-5 run to go in front, 17-13. A 5-1 run by the RedHawks led by a kill from Taylor off an assist from Seaman and a service ace by junior libero Abigail Huser tied the score at 18. The Flyers however took the next three points to regain control, and despite kills from Taylor and Payne, they would not relinquish it as they took a 25-21 win and the match in three sets.
Taylor finished with six kills for Miami, while Riemersma had five. Seaman led the 'Hawks with 18 assists, while Harper and Huser had seven digs apiece.
Miami returns to action this weekend when it competes in the Auto Owners Insurance Spartan Invitational in East Lansing, Michigan. On Friday, the RedHawks face 21st-ranked Tennessee at 5:30 p.m. On Saturday, Miami takes on Indiana State at noon.
NIU 1, Chicago State 3
Box Score
The Northern Illinois University volleyball team moved to 2-2 on the season Tuesday night with a 3-1 (25-19, 24-26, 17-25, 23-25) loss to the Chicago State Cougars at the Jones Convocation Center.
"Chicago State did a good job with their serve and put a lot of pressure on us," said head coach Ray Gooden. "We did a good job managing it in the first set, but we didn't maintain that the way we needed to. Tonight we had more pure errors than we had during the weekend."
Sophomore setter Grace Balensiefer (Lafayette, Ind./McCutcheon) had her first double-double of the season with 40 assists and 12 digs. Freshman Kaitlyn Bell (De Soto, Kan./De Soto) led the NIU offense with 13 kills as Kennedy Wallace (Kansas City, Kan./Piper) added 12 with three blocks. Peyton Tilly (Barrington, Ill./Barrington) had 10 kills. Miranda Karlen (Evansville, Wis./Evansville) led the Huskies with 15 digs.
NIU (2-2) battled through a slow start to the match to take a 7-6 lead on a Tilly kill. The two teams then traded points up to 13-13, when a Chicago State service error and a block by Bell and Jasmine Kemp(DeKalb, Ill./DeKalb) put the Huskies ahead 15-13. NIU extended its lead to four at 19-15 on a block by Wallace and Brinley Milbrath (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/John F. Kennedy). The Huskies hit .258 in the opening set with 12 kills to win it 25-19.
Chicago State (1-3) led early in the second set, but a Milbrath kill punctuated a four-point NIU run that put the Huskies up 9-5. NIU led 11-8 when a Kirah Williams-Shepherd kill started a 5-0 Cougars run to put the hosts ahead 13-11. Chicago State led by as much as five before two kills from Milbrath in the span of four points tied the set at 18. The Cougars were up 22-20 when a service error and three straight kills from Tilly and Wallace gave NIU set point at 24-22. The Huskies were not able to cash in, however, as the Cougars won each of the next four points to take the set 26-24 and tie the match at one set all.
The Cougars offense came alive in set three. Chicago State hit .242 and held NIU to a -.125 to win it 25-17 and go up 2-1 in the match. The Huskies immediately bounced back to start the fourth, winning seven of the first nine points before a Cougars timeout. Chicago State came back midway through the set with a 5-1 run to take a 14-12 lead. The Cougars led 22-19 win a Bell kill started a three-point NIU run that leveled the set at 22. A kill by Borum Josi and a block by Williams-Shephard and Kayla Malec gave Chicago State match point at 24-22. NIU fought off one match point, but a Beatriz Palmieri kill gave Chicago State the set 25-23 and the match 3-1.
"When we were in system, we were doing some really good things," Gooden said. "We just have to work on getting in that more and finding the alternatives we need in situations to be able to put rallies together."
NIU hit just .112 in the match with Chicago State hitting .190. The Cougars had six service aces and 12 blocks to the Huskies' two aces and six blocks. Williams-Shepherd led the match with 15 kills, hitting .387.
